


bequeath beds of water

by starspecters



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alabasta Arc, Gen, ace is warm !!! the desert is cold!!! whats a lil snuggle between pirate crew, because ace and vivi are trans solidarity, trans ace is extremely lightly implied but heavily intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 04:23:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19191775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspecters/pseuds/starspecters
Summary: And here in Alabasta, the dunes of sand do little to replace the endless lapping of the ocean, instead catching him in endless stagnation of the desert.So he can’t sleep.Or; Ace is a like a fire in a freezing desert, and the crew is just trying to get some rest.





	bequeath beds of water

Luffy kicks him.

This is not the fourth time, nor the fifth, nor any number Ace can count on any of his digits -- no matter how creative he gets with the medium of measure, from fingers to toes to… otherwise. Luffy’s restless sleeping has been habitual since childhood, so consistent it became monotonous until little jabs to his side and drool on Ace’s collarbone hummed him to sleep as sure as lullabies and counting sheep. There’s a fondness to the way he huffs a not-quite-exasperated puff of air against Luffy’s crown, hair fluttering loosely in brief displacement. 

But habit tarnished in the wear of absence -- Ace got used to rocking boats and stilted waves in Luffy’s stead, no harsh elbows connected to rowdy little brothers fidgeting whilst caught in the net of their dreams. And here in Alabasta, the dunes of sand do little to replace the endless lapping of the ocean, instead catching him in endless stagnation of the desert.

So he can’t sleep.

He had known he wouldn’t be able to anyway, which is why he took watch -- which is why Luffy also took watch, childish excitement causing him to leave the warmth of Chopper’s side completely, which is why… current predicament.

By glow of the fire, the windsail-curve of Luffy’s cheek softens to an even further roundness, youth clearly present in the give of his jawline, openness in the thoughtless splay of limbs and guileless expression on his face. Ace flicks a finger against Luffy’s nose and watches how the bridge scrunches and folds, little disgruntled noise in his sleep mumbled out as easy as breathing.

They had promised to wait until seventeen to set sail. Ace feels his own grin melt into something vulnerable as he watches Luffy sleep, mouth agape in complete relaxation. He still looks so young.

There’s a little bit of a shuffle behind him, and his eyes snap, instantly sharp and intent, careful not to jostle the bundle of rubber currently using him as a One-Man bedroll, heater, and pillow; when he notices Usopp, the tension leaves his gaze, sharp bare of teeth slacking into a lazy grin.

“Yo,” he says. He doesn’t bother trying to whisper -- knows Luffy is far too heavy a sleeper to worry about it --, but the stasis of the desert night beckons a certain gravity to his speech, and his voice comes out low and gravelly, downward pitch of his voice scraping along the lining of his throat.

(A small part of him that’s far too ingrained to smother feels a sharp flicker of victory at the bassy depth vibrating through his words -- not a single highly pitched whistle or crack.)

“Ah, Ace!” Usopp straightens brightly, hand coming up to cup the back of his neck. His fingers twist through the kinks at his nape in nervous spirals. “What are… you up to?”

Eyelids lowered, Ace needlessly adjusts the top of his hat, a habit he hasn’t felt the need to break. His sleeves are long enough to still buoy inches above the sand. “Pretty sure we agreed I’d take watch.”

“Aha!” Usopp’s chuckle is like a whip crack in the night, but he pays it little heed beside a slight wince, shoulder inching upwards. “Ah, yeah, yeah -- we did do that! It’s just that, you see, I thought you might need some assistance -- you and Luffy, that is, although he doesn’t seem to be doing much -- from the brave warrior Usopp of the sea.” As he rambles, his hands flutter around in nervous embellishment, chest puffing in faux-pride. “So I thought it would be the _least_ I could do to offer assistance to comrades in need!”

Ace’s smile doesn’t waver, though it edges closer to genuine amusement. Older brother experience hasn’t necessarily taught him all the little tells; Luffy is a notoriously bad fibber but rarely even bothers to try for shame, just loudly declares all intentions openly. And Sabo… he had trouble figuring out, no good at deceit himself. But even then, Usopp is almost transparent despite his supposed experience in lying, little beads of sweat on his brow and flapping arms.

“I think we have it covered,” Ace drawls lightly. Eyebrows raised, he pointedly drops his gaze low to Luffy’s completely knocked-out state, expression slack and jaw open wide enough to insert a drumstick whole with little resistance, before swinging his eyes back up to Usopp. “But thanks.”

“Of course, of course. It’s just,” Usopp gathers up the wind for his second pitch, a great gasping inhale. He always talks like he’s trying to sell himself -- a travelling salesman with no product besides his very presence. Ace has half a mind to spare him the embarrassment and effort, but falls back into an observer role, chin propped with a fist and crooked smile in place. “Three pairs -- well, two pairs -- of eyes are better than one, right? And you must be bored--”

It’s about then that Ace finally notices Usopp’s chittering isn’t just a nervous tick or a side effect of his rambling, that his trembling hands aren’t just from antsiness, and it all sort of falls into place for him.

His muttered but pointed “nyo!” is apparently enough to stop Usopp dead, who clearly sees some change in expression or hears the tiny exclamation and jumps at the chance to stop his overly confident word-vomit.

“Ace?”

“You know, if you were cold, you could have just said so.”

Usopp lights up. “You mean it? Chopper is warm, but--” He abruptly cuts off, contracting some sort of coughing fit. “I mean,” he starts, voice suddenly three octaves lower. “If you need help -- of course the mighty Usopp can sit with you.”

Ace snorts, tipping the brim of his hat with a jab of his finger and a quiet “heh.” But Usopp looks two stages from suddenly contracting pneumonia and subsequent death, so he throws him a bone. “Right. It might be too much to handle, all by myself like this.”

Usopp folds his arms, closing his eyes and tapping his foot as if in deep thought. “Yes, yes,” he mumbles with a click of his tongue. “It can’t be helped, then.”

“Uh-huh,” Ace agrees, long and flat. But his eyes are bright with humor, even below the lazy weight of his eyelashes. “Best to stay close, too.”

“Right, right! My thoughts exactly.” Usopp, to his credit, manages to stumble to Ace’s side with some level of dignity before completely collapsing onto him, lithe body barely budging him as he takes residence on his unoccupied shoulder.

It takes approximately two minutes for quiet snores to completely surround him, an echo-chamber of exhausted teenagers. And Ace is alone with his thoughts again.

-

Vivi is the first to rise in the morning.

Of course, “rise” is a pretty brave overestimation of what she does; she hasn’t been sleeping well lately, and although she is well-acquainted with all the ways to smoothen that exhaustion into easy poise, she’s nearing her rope’s end -- and regardless, maintaining a physical brightness does nothing to relieve her weariness on an emotional scale. 

Still, she had managed to fall asleep just a few hours prior. Long enough, it seems, for Nami to have slipped out while she slept, seeing as how she’s completely alone in the tent, vacant bedroll gone cold -- an oddity, for sure. Nami seems to enjoy sleeping as much as she can when its an option. Curiosity piqued and uneasy sense of dread rising, Vivi lightly pries open the flap, surveying the outside as soon as the gap allows. “Nami-san?” she calls quietly.

To say the sight is alarming would be a grave disservice to the horrors Vivi had seen and the trials she had undertaken. To say the sight is shocking would be a grave disservice to the Straw Hats who had taken her in -- she understands that nothing from them would ever be so droll as to be expected, that she will be surprised today and tomorrow and so on for as long as she is in their company.

To say the sight is heartwarming… yes, she supposes that would suffice.

Ace notices her as she nears, although he initially only acknowledge by following her with his gaze to the best of his abilities. With a slight jerk of his wrist she guesses is supposed to be a wave with what little control remains of his hands, he smiles jauntily, voice quiet but clear as he greets her. “Yo.” His tone implies it’s not the first time he’s greeted someone in such a manner recently; given his predicament, she can’t say she’s exactly surprised.

“Good morning, Ace,” she greets politely, tucking a smile behind her fingertips.

“Morning,” he says, equally polite. Neither of them say anything else for several moments, both waiting for some sort of prompt that never comes. The morning is as quiet as the night below the whistling snores, but the temperature steadily rising is a clear indicator of the oncoming daybreak.

“So, ah--”

“It seems,” Ace starts, blowing a puff of air to keep a loose strand of hair from dangling in front of eyes, but it just swings back into view. His gaze narrows, huffing, and Vivi quickly steps in, tucking it behind his ear when he gives a permissive nod. The ever-present smugness of his grin fades into something a little softer. “It seems,” he continues, “that pirates might not do as well to the cold as native residents of Alabasta.”

Vivi quickly claps her hands to her face, cheeks squishing up into her vision with her dismay. “Oh, no! I forgot to warn them about that!”

Ace snorts, and a bright cloud of embers emerges on the exhale. “The thought is nice, but I think they were doomed either way.” He says so fondly, eyes swinging back to the pile around him.

Previous embarrassment forgotten, Vivi suppresses a downright grin. “But thankfully you were here to help.”

He smiles toothily, and she can imagine him tipping his hat were his hands free. As it is, he just sort of bobs his head. “My pleasure.”

On his thigh, Zoro tilts his head a little, scooting further in and squishing his cheek, while Nami lays curled in a ball against his back, head propped closer to Ace’s knee. Nobody is quite as entangled as Luffy is, still wrapped firmly around his older brother’s torso with head in the crook of his neck, but Usopp manages something close, mirroring a similar position on his other side, Ace’s arms wrapped around both of them to keep them from toppling. Sanji, to his credit, manages to actually look casual about it -- like he may have thought Ace’s back was a tree trunk to lounge against, accidentally dozing off in the process, but the way he holds Chopper betrays a purposefulness to his depth of sleep. 

Vivi feels something overly affectionate bubble in her chest -- an amalgamation of pride or affection or both, seeing them so trusting and openly doting when they are all constantly barbs and bite when conscious. She understands immediately the tender look in Ace’s eyes, why he didn’t wake anyone to take over watch, how his laid-back and unimpressed demeanor betrays a soft-hearted fierceness of the need to protect -- sees that same trait in herself, that self-sacrificial love, and begins to feel a connection and understanding form with Luffy’s older brother in that instant.

There’s something about those Straw Hats, she thinks. A something that’s intangible but very much present. A something she wants a part of immensely. She wonders if he feels it, too.

“You’re sure you’ll manage today? It’s a strenuous journey.” She bites her lip. If someone were to collapse, she supposes Zoro could carry him for a short period of time, but she frets over the idea of a major delay.

Ace, on the other hand, just tuts idly. “I’ve had worse. If Luffy can manage something, I can do it on less sleep and fuel, yeah?” His smug smile hooks on the end like a paperclip, and the fluctuating line of his lips send the freckles on his cheeks into hypnotic spirals.

Vivi twists a displaced strand of hair around her finger. “I’m sure-- ah, Ace, are you alright?”

Blinking in surprise, Ace perks with a little disgruntled noise of surprise, one that manages to span a whole range of octaves in less than a second. He follows her line of sight to his absently twisting wrist, strained against Usopp’s side. “Ah,” he says, expression flickering in response to the memory. “Old injury.” He nods towards the unconcealed bits of his arm brace.

“That’s the life of a pirate, huh?” She sighs, clasping her wrists behind her back, and tells herself it doesn’t sound wistful.

Snickering, Ace cocks his head, teeth jagged. “Nah. I was an aggressive kid.”

By the soft glow of the sunrise, the heap of limbs and peace is painted into a soft vignette, Ace looking right at home with the orange brushstrokes staining his skin, jawline softening into a gentle slope beneath the beams of light. Everything about it is achingly familial, and Vivi feels her eye crinkle

“Better wake them up, then,” Ace announces, thinly veiled with regret. Vivi mirrors his reluctance; there’s something in the air, she thinks. The feeling that they all might not be together like this, experiencing this kind of peace, for a very long while. 

She sinks into the sand next to him, familiar as her own bedsheets.

“I think we can give them just a few more minutes.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is largely for my boyfriend, the biggest ace fan i know, who requested this exact thing. i intended this to be longer and ace-centric, but i had to publish this in case i never got around to the rest!!
> 
>  
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> [twitter](https://twitter.com/holIowbastion)


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